Motorola Moto G review: Little big G

Google Now

Google Now was first introduced back in Jelly Bean 4.1 and is definitely one of the most interesting aspects of the Android OS. Simply put, it's Google's version of a personal assistant. Google Now is meant to be kinda Apple's Siri, but it learns constantly from your daily routines and it also takes cue from the Google searches you do on your computer, not just the ones on your smartphone. You can also use to voice command various aspects of your phone.

Unlike the Moto X, where the A8 chipset was always listening for the OK Google keywords to prop up Google Now, the Moto G can only access it by swiping up from the virtual Home key or through the dedicated Google Search app.

Anyway, Google Now gives you short overviews of information it believes is relevant to you right now in the form of information cards. Going to work in the morning? Google Now knows this and lets you know there's a big traffic jam on your usual way to the office, so it offers you a re-route.

It can interpret a lot of things from your search history as well. If you've been searching for, let's say, your favorite football team, Google Now will prepare a card showing you the next match the team is playing and will provide you score updates once the game begins.

Google Now

Google Now, if you allow it, can scan your email for upcoming flights, deliveries or restaurant reservations and let you know when they are due. There are also numerous kinds of cards like birthdays (yours and those of your contacts) and what distance you've walked in a particular month. The last one could definitely feel creepy for some users, but it's easily turned off from the Google Now settings menu.

The More section of the customization will update automatically with topics you can choose from once you've start using Google Now search capabilities.

You can now set reminders straight from Google Now's UI. Just hit the bottom left icon (the palm with a stretched index finger). There you can add reminders or just check all the past, ongoing or upcoming reminders.

Google Now

Google has also integrated Voice Actions into Now. They can handle stuff like sending messages (SMS or email), initiating a voice call, asking for directions, taking a note or opening a site. Google Now can also launch apps, check and manage your calendar and look for nearby places of interest and stuff like movie openings in theaters.

You can now set your default transportation method, you favorite sports teams, company stocks you are following, places you are interested to visit and more. Once you add items you want to keep an eye on Google Now will do this instead of you. It will automatically inform you for various changes, news and updates.

Google Now

One big advantage of Google Now is that the voice typing functionality doesn't require an internet connection to work. You can enter text by speaking anywhere you can use the on-screen keyboard - be it the Messaging app or a note taking app - without the need for a data connection as long as you have pre-downloaded the needed language packs (and those only take about 20-25MB of your storage per pack).

Making voice typing available offline also made it faster as it's not dependent on your connection. What's even more impressive is that the transition hasn't cost it anything in terms of accuracy.

Low-powered quad-core

The Moto G comes with a Snapdragon 400 chipset with four Krait 200, Cortex-A7, cores clocked at 1.2 GHz and the Adreno 305 graphics processing unit. The phone makes use of 1 GB of RAM.

The Cortex-A7 processor clocked at 1.2GHz delivers a decent mid-range performance very close to the Cortex-A9 chips, with the added benefit of having lower power consumption.

BenchmarkPi focuses on the per-core performance. It evaluates how fast the processing core is and the Moto G scored just under its sibling by processor - the Xperia C - and not far behind Cortex-A9 competition.

Benchmark Pi

Lower is better

Samsung Galaxy S4 mini166

Sony Xperia Z264

HTC Butterfly266

Oppo Find 5267

HTC One X+280

LG Optimus G285

HTC One mini293

Samsung Galaxy Express346

Sony Xperia C374

Motorola Moto G 392

Sony Xperia M400

Samsung Galaxy S II Plus409

Sony Xperia L435

Samsung Galaxy S III mini499

Samsung Galaxy Ace 3519

Sony Xperia go543

HTC Desire 600 dual sim554

Samsung Galaxy Core578

HTC Desire X639

Sony Xperia E dual800

Samsung Galaxy Young831

Linpack is a single or multi-threaded oriented benchmark. Here the Moto G scored just lower than the more powerful HTC One mini (boasting a Snapdragon 400 with better Krait 300 cores) and overpowered the Xperia C by a lot.

Linpack

Higher is better

Samsung Galaxy S4788

HTC One646

Sony Xperia Z630

HTC Butterfly624

LG Optimus G608

Samsung Galaxy S4 mini413

Sony Xperia SP348

HTC One mini320

Motorola Moto G 259

Nexus 4213.5

Sony Xperia L191

HTC One X+177

Samsung Galaxy S III175

Sony Xperia M168.3

HTC One X160

LG Optimus 4X HD141

Sony Xperia C132.3

HTC Desire 600 dual sim107.7

Samsung Galaxy Core85

Samsung Galaxy Ace 368

Geekbench 3 is a cross-platform CPU benchmark. In it the Moto G bested the Xperia C and came close to the HTC Buttefly - not a bad score.

Geekbench 3

Higher is better

Samsung Galaxy Note 32937

Sony Xperia Z Ultra2670

Sony Xperia Z12638

Apple iPhone 5s2561

LG Nexus 52453

LG G22243

HTC One1972

HTC One Max1899

Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)1869

LG Optimus G1623

Meizu MX31579

Huawei Ascend P61315

LG Nexus 41288

HTC Butterfly1257

Motorola Moto G 1120

Sony Xperia C1079

Oppo R8191047

HTC One mini887

Samsung Galaxy Ace 3564

AnTuTu 4 gauges the overall device performance instead of just the CPU. Here the Moto G was ahead of the Nexus 4 and again beat the Sony Xperia C by a strong margin. In Quadrant the Moto G scored almost double the points of the similarly-spec'd Xperia C.

AnTuTu

Higher is better

HTC One22678

Sony Xperia Z20794

Motorola Moto G 17214

Oppo Find 515167

Samsung Galaxy S4 mini14518

Sony Xperia C13948

HTC Butterfly12631

HTC One mini11434

HTC Desire 600 dual sim11203

Samsung Galaxy Ace 310448

Sony Xperia M9902

Sony Xperia L9746

Nokia Lumia 6209140

Samsung Galaxy Core7408

Samsung Galaxy Xcover 26650

Quadrant

Higher is better

Motorola Moto G 8508

Samsung Galaxy S4 mini7153

HTC One mini6048

Sony Xperia V5816

HTC Desire 600 dual sim5053

Samsung Galaxy Express4998

Sony Xperia C4941

Sony Xperia L4279

Sony Xperia M4147

Samsung Galaxy Core3240

Samsung Galaxy Core3152

Heading into GPU-intensive test territory it's time to see how the Adreno 305 inside the Moto G performs against the PowerVR SGX544 inside the Xperia C. At GLBenchrmak's 2.5 Egypt 1080p offscreen test the Adreno 305 rounded up 6 more frames per second. GLBenchmark's offscreen test shows what the GPU inside the phone can do in raw performance - not pushing the native 720p resolution, but instead a fixed 1080p one. Naturally, the Moto G was outperformed by Snapdragon 600 and 800-yellding foes as their Adreno 320 and 330 are much more potent.

GLBenchmark 2.7 T-Rex offscreen also gave the nod to the Adreno 305 over the PowerVR SGX544 - the Adreno got twice the framerates.

Finally, the Epic Citadel, which generates a beautiful and rich medieval scene, was the place where the PowerVR GPU was able to redeem itself by a small margin, besting the Adreno 305's otherwise good score - anything above 30 fps is stutter-free and enjoyable.

GLBenchmark 2.5 Egypt (1080p off-screen)

Higher is better

Sony Xperia Z160

Sony Xperia Z Ultra60

LG G254

Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)43

HTC Butterfly S42

Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)41

Samsung Galaxy S4 Active41

HTC One37

Oppo Find 532

Google Nexus 432

Sony Xperia Z31

Sony Xperia ZL31

Sony Xperia SP31

Apple iPhone 530

LG Optimus G Pro30

LG Optimus G21

Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.317

Samsung Galaxy S4 mini17

Samsung Galaxy Note II17

Motorola Moto G 16

HTC One mini15

HTC One X11

Sony Xperia C10

GLBenchmark 2.7 T-Rex (1080p off-screen)

Higher is better

Sony Xperia Z123

Sony Xperia Z Ultra23

LG G222

Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)17.1

Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)17.1

Apple iPad 416.8

HTC Butterfly S16

Samsung Galaxy S4 Active16

Google Nexus 1013.9

LG Optimus G13.9

Sony Xperia Z13.5

Sony Xperia Tablet Z13

Sony Xperia ZL12.8

Samsung Galaxy S4 mini6.4

Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.36.3

HTC One mini5.6

Motorola Moto G 5.6

Samsung Galaxy Note II4.9

Sony Xperia C2.8

Epic Citadel

Higher is better

Sony Xperia Z154.9

Sony Xperia Z Ultra54.9

LG G251

Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)37.2

Sony Xperia C36.3

HTC One35.6

Motorola Moto G 34

HTC Butterfly29.6

And for the final installment of our synthetic round comes the browsing experience, which is comprised of the JavaScript-focused and HTML 5-oriented SunSpider and BrowserMark 2. Finally, Vellamo does a little of everything for an all-round score.

JavaScript performance deemed the Moto G slightly better than the Xperia C and better overall than most of its more expensive rivals, which can be attributed to Android 4.3 Jelly Bean.

In HTML 5 the Android 4.3 and Moto G duo scored a very high result leaving others, like the Samsung Galaxy S4 in the dust.

Vellamo wasn't as generous as the other two but still showed the Moto G a better competitor than the Sony Xperia C.

SunSpider

Lower is better

Sony Xperia Z Ultra750

Sony Xperia Z1845

LG G2908

Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)1046

HTC One1174

LG Optimus G1293

Motorola Moto G 1308

Sony Xperia C1319

Samsung Galaxy Ace 31337

HTC One mini1375

LG Nexus 41379

HTC Butterfly1397

Oppo R8191423

Huawei Ascend P63858

BrowserMark 2

Higher is better

LG G22718

Motorola Moto G 2562

LG Optimus G2555

Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)2438

Sony Xperia Z Ultra2419

Sony Xperia Z12398

HTC Butterfly S2378

Samsung Galaxy S4 Active2338

Samsung Galaxy S4 mini2314

HTC One2262

Sony Xperia Tablet Z2170

HTC One mini2164

Sony Xperia ZL2107

Sony Xperia Z2093

Sony Xperia C1984

Sony Xperia V1957

Samsung Galaxy Ace 31902

Sony Xperia L1809

LG Optimus G Pro1801

Oppo Find 51797

Nexus 41794

Nokia Lumia 9201774

Sony Xperia M1642

HTC Desire 600 dual sim1592

HTC 8S1556

HTC Butterfly1475

Samsung Galaxy Core1469

Samsung Galaxy S III1247

Samsung Galaxy Express1154

Samsung Galaxy S III mini714

Vellamo

Higher is better

Sony Xperia SP2497

HTC One2382

HTC One mini2252

Sony Xperia Z2189

Samsung Galaxy S42060

Samsung Galaxy S4 mini2019

Motorola Moto G 1928

HTC Butterfly1866

Sony Xperia M1800

Sony Xperia L1640

HTC Desire 600 dual sim1572

LG Optimus 4X HD1568

LG Optimus G1522

Samsung Galaxy Ace 31409

Samsung Galaxy Core1366

Nexus 41310

Samsung Galaxy Fame1234

Samsung Galaxy Young1072

Sony Xperia E dual1065

Overall we'd say the Moto G presented stellar scores all across the board and shouldn't have any issues with providing a smooth and glitch-free smartphone experience. Now, the hardware aside, this could have much (if not most) to do with the excellent optimizations to Android 4.3 Jelly Bean provided by Google. Let's hope that when KitKat arrives, the Moto G will become even faster.